Viking : Dress, Clothing, Klaer, Garment

From Nille Glaesel's Introduction: For many years I have worked with textiles, making Viking clothes and shoes. I have also tanned leather and worked with a reconstruction of Osebergrevlene for the Viking Museum, Lofotr. I am often asked about patterns for the Viking's beautiful garments. It is through this work that I have seen the need for a book which makes it easy for anyone to sew their very own Viking costumes, based on the sparse findings that have been gathered and preserved from the Viking period. Although the findings are few, they nevertheless give us some clear guidelines for cut, use of materials and techniques. My main goal has not been to reconstruct typical garments from this era, but to show the cut of clothing from the Viking Age (A.D. 780 to 1030) and make it accessible to most people. There are many who are interested in the Viking era and who would like to sew their own costume, but it is difficult to get hold of the correct materials. Within archaeology, textiles have traditionally not been given priority. It is said that clothes maketh the man, and I believe that textile research is important if we really want to learn about our past. Fortunately, there have been some recent developments and pioneers in this field, and I am thrilled with their work and wait excitedly for future publications. In this book I have used machine-made fabrics and sewn all hidden seams with a sewing machine. In the section on sewing-techniques, I have used illustrations to show methods known and used by the Vikings. If you want to weave the fabrics on a warp weighted loom with yarn spun on a drop-spindle, then you are close to a reconstruction.